Hugh Shields started with the Barnegat Light Beach Patrol Lifeguard-in-Training program when he was 10, and at the outset paddleboarding wasn’t his forte.

“I kind of sucked at it for the first few years,” said Shields, now 14. “Then, a couple of years ago, I started doing extra practices with them. I figured that I had to pick up the pace, to get better so I can compete with the older guys.”

All that extra practice has paid off. Shields recently won the board race in the 14/15-year-old A Division during the recent U.S. Lifesaving Association Junior National Championships in Virginia Beach, Va.

“I went to a regional tournament in Wildwood in early August, and when I got there I won the paddle race,” said…